Radio

Carillion details dividend sweetener for Balfour Beatty shareholders

Balfour Beatty has already rejected two takeover proposals by Carillion

British construction firm Carillion is proposing to pay shareholders of its takeover target Balfour Beatty an additional cash dividend of 8.5 pence per share and said that a merger would save the companies over £1.5 billion.

Balfour Beatty has rejected two takeover proposals by Carillion which has until August 21 to make another final offer.

The two construction-focused firms have a combined market capitalisation of £3 billion and Carillion said today the companies would benefit from streamlining parts of their businesses to save at least £175m a year.

Carillion revealed details of its offer at the request of the UK Takeover Panel after the construction group held meetings with a number of Balfour Beatty's major shareholders.